Where has the last week gone?!?  It is already Sunday!!!  Whenever I have any spare time my mind just wanders and falls into creative mode.  This is not too good in my case as I then dread the return to work.  I really think that its time I started to use my creativity to set up a sideline.  However its the usual thing too many ideas, not enough time, wanting everything to be perfect and completed yesterday.

Mimi has been a bit of a nightmare this week.  I think my days of clothes shopping have finally passed.  I really needed to pick up some new tops for work and the weather wasn't looking too great so we popped into Canterbury. Having met my friend D for coffee Mimi became the devil child and I became the stressed out mother.  "Look at me I'm hiding", when I looked round she was clambering through all the clothes and wiping them all over her face.  She didn't want to sit in the buggy, then she did.  Then she didn't want to wear her shoes, then she did.  She didn't want her dummy, then she did.  She wanted to lie down like a Baby then she didn't.  (This was a nightmare as we had the Maclaren Buggy which meant every time she pulled herself forward the buggy re-set itself.)  Poor Mr Doggy was thrown in and out of the buggy so many times I am surprised he made it home with us.  To add to my day I had decided that we would go food shopping on the way home at the new Waitrose.  This was slightly better although she did insist on singing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star at the TOP of her voice, interjected with "Help Me Help Me I need my Daddy".  We don't normally drink very much but whilst I was going round the supermarket the alcohol was calling me.  I had a lovely glass of wine in the evening.  A Waitrose own in association with Villa Maria White Sauvignon Blanc - YUM!.  As the week has progressed I wish I had brought MORE!!!!

I can't decide if its me being short tempered this week or Mimi being particularly difficult.  I can not remember when I last managed to get Mimi into a pair of trousers.  Dressing up as Angelina Ballerina is a daily activity, I struggled one night to get the dress off her as she wanted to wear it to bed as well.

Angelina Ballerina going for a walk.

This week I have finished Mimi's new hat.  I decided to adapt a pattern and experiment knitting with sequins.  I was quite pleased with the outcome and it only took me a couple of nights.  I think I might have another go.

Today we had a little pre-birthday get together as we are going to be away for my birthday.  Mike & I are off to Venice for 3 nights and Mimi is going on holiday to Grandma & Pa's.  We haven't been abroad anywhere other than France since before we got married 6 years ago so I am really excited.  Not sure its going to be that cheap though!  Anyway I put together a little Afternoon Tea treat.

Whilst K&S were up here we decided and booked a camping trip to France for next June Half Term.  Slightly worrying that we were all so impulsive, usually we procrastinate for weeks and never get round to going.  

Our chosen campsite is one we visited earlier this summer near Deauville.  Mimi has talked non-stop about camping since the summer despite the fact that it rained for the entire trip.  It looks like I will have to miss out on my planned trip to London for the Queens Jubilee, however it does mean that everyone can take advantage of the extra bank holidays this way.

On a final note check out this crazy sign I saw in a window the other day.  I made Mike go round the block just so that I could stop & take a photo.

  

Yay half term!

I feel like there are just not enough hours in the day at the moment.  Work has gone a bit crazy I had to work 4 days this week instead of my usual 3.  The house is a tip, and I have lots of Christmas ideas I would like to complete. There is just so much to do all round.  To make matters worse I think Mimi is coming towards the end of her mid-afternoon naps.  I have come to rely on these and the thought of not getting that couple of hours to catch up is worrying.  I have a new found respect for people who have 2 or more children.  Funnily enough last weekend my mum looked after my nephew and she was saying she wondered how she ever got anything done and she had four of us!!

Again it is one of those weeks where it has flown by and I know I have been busy but now that I sit here it seems to have all escaped my memory!!  Although work is busy I generally have had a better week and I am feeling much happier which is good.

There is a definite chill in the air, I think Autumn has finally decided to put in an appearance.  I had to scrape the ice of my car this morning.  Mimi keeps complaining she is cold and much to my disgust we have had the heating on for the last few nights.

Having racked my brain this week we have:

• Planted our onions ready for the spring

• Been enjoying the beautiful weather whilst it continues

Can you believe it's the middle of October?!

We had a lovely long walk on Sunday, the weather was beautiful.  We were  on our way home, we had just stopped for an ice cream and were happily walking along the promenade holding hands when suddenly a little boy on a bike hit Mimi from behind.  He totally wiped her out, she was under the bike (still clutching her ice lolly) screaming and the little boy was sprawled on the pavement face down.  I didn't know what to do, so having scoped Mimi up I realised that the little boy wasn't moving.  Some really nice people stopped to help and finally the father came along.  He was learning to ride a bike and lost control.  It was a complete accident.  Mimi after a minute or two was ok, a bit of a red mark on his back but nothing too serious.  I think the little boy was in shock.  I was shaking, it really scared me.  It all happened so quickly.  Thank goodness he wasn't going any faster.

• Made some lovely pink heart shaped biscuits

• Started and finished my new snood

This was knitted on size 10 circular needles using 2 balls of Patons Fab Big Wool.  Cast on 131 stiches, working continuously in moss stitch (knit 1 Purl1) making sure you mark the start.  

• Face painting

Mummy's attempt at a Tiger 

Also this week my lovely husband brought me a Kindle as an early birthday present so that I can download some books to take to Venice with me.  It is great and I LOVE it.  I am surprised however to find that it does not have a back-light so reading in the dark is not an option!  Additionally in a lot of cases new books are more expensive in digital format than the books.  But I LOVE it all the same.  It is great because I can make the font bigger as I really struggle with the small font.

I am off to have my hair cut in the morning and to pick up some groovy fabrics for my Christmas Projects.

Well it has been almost a week since my last post, I am sure quite a bit has happened since last writing but a large chunk seems to have disappeared from my memory.

Work has been a real struggle so far this week, the joys of being a secondary school teacher!!!

Saturday we travelled up to see my sister via Bluewater (to buy a present) for my nephews first birthday. We visited this great garden centre which had lots of farm animals which Mimi just loved and a minature steam engine.  She wasn't so keen on the train and kept telling us that she likes the big bus with pa better than the train.  (My dad usually takes her on a double decker bus to the next town once a week).  Bless her she was really under the weather, I think she has got her molars coming through.

 After all of the excitement we went back to my sisters house for a lovely afternoon tea.  My sister put on a lovely spread.  We had sandwiches, crisps, and the most amazing cake.  A proper children's afternoon tea party.

Check out this cake.

Sunday the weather wasn't looking too good so instead of Mike going sailing we decided to pop over to Mama Feelgoods for coffee.

Mimi has become a bit feral.  When we are in the garden she keeps dropping her trousers and doing a wee on the grass.  Part of the problem with this is that although she squats she hasn't mastered the art of pushing her little bottom backwards and so keeps weeing in her shoes.  As you can imagine a small pair of baby converse filled with wee on a regular basis start to take on a nice odour.

Today we have had a bit of a lazy day, drinking coffee, I popped in to town for some new knitting needles and some wool and up to B&Q for some compost.  I think the weather is still looking good for tomorrow so hopefully we will be able to get out in to the garden.  Mimi can help me plant some onions.

3 weeks today we are off to Venice.  Yippeee I am very excited.  I wonder if my birthday present will arrive before we go?!?!  If the birthday fairies are listening I would quite like one of the new Kindles.

Kids say the funniest things...

Yesterday morning Mimi tried to bite me.  At first I thought she wanted to give me a kiss or a lick but I was horrified when she sank her teeth in.  This is the first time she has done this.   So following all the usual tips from Joe Frost Mimi spent the next two minutes sitting or in her case screaming on the naughty mat. When her time was up I went and asked her to tell me what she had done wrong and why she had been made to sit on the naughty mat to which she replied all the correct answers.  I then said to her what mustn't you do and she replied "No Eating Mummy."  How I laughed.

Mimi is such a skinny mini that the new skirt I brought her from Gap didn't fit her and kept falling down.  This is happens a lot with trousers and skirts especially Monsoon ones.  I really wish all baby clothes came with  adjustable elastic waistbands.  So I had to carefully un-pick the waistband seam, pull the elastic a bit tighter (I cut off about 2 inches of elastic) then stitch it all back together.  It worked however it bunched the material up a bit too much on the waistband and made poor Mimi look like she has the biggest set of hips and bottom.  But hey she was happy with her new princess skirt and she is too young to worry about things like that.

Then we had a bit of a baking session.  We started out making pastry for a chicken pie and we kinda got a bit carried away.  First up we made some Cheese Stars.

Then we made some jam tarts

Eventually we made our chicken pie.  Which was delicious.  It was a bit of a mummy special - (I made it up as we went along!)  I meant to take a picture before it was cut up but totally forgot.

Having been stuck indoors for a few days I decided to take Mimi out for a couple of hours.  We popped over to Mama Feelgoods.  We had a lovely lunch and visited the amazing cake craft shop they have.  They have everything you could ever wish for when it comes to cake decorating.  We brought some lovely pink cake cases with flowers on and some purple glitter for the tops.  Now we just need to make them!!!  Maybe tomorrow?!?

Check out these great looking sandwiches we had a Mama Feelgoods.  Mimi had a Jam Sandwich and I had a toasted Brie and Bacon YUM YUM!

Last night I finished my latest book.  "Caught" Harlan Coben.  I brought this book ages ago but I found it so difficult to read in bed with my old glasses that it kind of got put to one side.  When I got my new glasses a few weeks back I picked it up again.  I would highly recommend this book.   It is a tremendous book with several story lines which all link together to keep you guessing right up until the end.  Basically a 17 year old girl goes missing for 3 months and the whole community imagines the worst.  A local reporter gets caught up in the twists when she embarks on her mission to bring down sexual predators via a televised sting operation.  

Does anyone remember the program on channel 4 a few years back called "The Book Group"?  I think I am talking 2002-03.  Anyway it was a great program which used to be on after "Teachers" (another great program).  It was about a random selection of people who got together on a regular basis to review a selection of books,  I used to watch it with my old flat mates, we thought it was great.  Check it out on you tube.  A few years ago after returning home having lived in London for a few years I thought it would be a good idea to set up a book club locally.  Nothing too serious somewhere to meet have a few glasses of wine and maybe discuss a book or two.  Trouble was no one was interested.  I did try a few on-line book clubs but they all took it far too seriously.  It was expected that you would try and read a zillion books a week.  I suppose it was one of those things.  Anyway - what to read next?   

Today I finally got round to making some cakes to take to my sisters tomorrow.  Check out the pink cases and purple glitter!!!

Brit Mums Personal Prompt..........

ooooooo which one to choose.  I can think of a few but having narrowed down my list I think it has to be my washing machine.  I know I have previously mentioned this but honestly every time I do any washing I get really peeved off.  One small sock or now that Mimi is potty trained one small pair of knickers stuck in the lip of the door.

The rubber lip on the inside of the door has an overly large draining gap - just big enough to hold Mimi's knickers and socks.

The result is that the offending item or on some occasions items come out dirtier than when they went in. In the case of socks it really peeves me off as we then have miss matching pairs.  I do try to get all of the little blighter's into a net bag before the start of the wash but there is always one on an escape mission.

So there we have it my biggest pet peeve and my first Brit Mums Personal Prompt.

Wow what fab weather we had all weekend.  What a shame its going to end tomorrow.  We went to the beach early Sunday morning.  There were loads of people out prawning.  It truly was a fabulous day.  Difficult to believe that it was October.  I even donned my swimming costume and dipped my toes.  Bit too chilly for my liking but plenty of other people enjoyed a dip.  We eventually managed to persuade Mimi to go paddling and then struggled to get her back out because she loved it so much.  When the weather is like this I always think how idyllic it is here.  It really feels like you are on holiday.  However in the winter it can be very bleak.

Is this really October?!  What a beautiful morning.

What an amazing view

Mimi finally decided she wanted to go paddling.  Here we are jumping the waves.

Mimi & her little friend playing on the beach.

We caught a couple of prawns and a shrimp.  I always thought that prawns and shrimps were the same so I learnt something new.  A shrimp has speckles and a little tail with black edging where as a prawn is all clear in colour.


In the afternoon one of our friends had a party for their 50th birthday.  They live right on the beach and so most of the party ended up in the sea.

Other than enjoying this beautiful weather I have been putting together a new website

http://www.groov-ekidz.com/

I would be really tickled if some of you guys could check it out for me and let me know what you think.  Most weeks one or all of the supermarkets have offers on Nappies, Baby wipes and other baby essentials but it is difficult to know whether you are getting the best deal or not.  The aim of the website is to bring it all together in one easily accessible place.


 

What an amazing start to October.  How many of us are in denial about the fact that winter is looming just around the corner?
I was woken up to a beautiful sunrise and Mimi clutching a lovely present for our Wedding Anniversary from my fab husband.  I love all things to do with stationary and today was no exception.  Mike brought me a beautiful Orla Kiely note book.

Last night for the first time in as long as I can remember Mike and I went out to dinner, just the two of us and it was great.  I had a truly great evening.  I think that this is something we are going to have to try and aim to do more often.  However we are off to Venice in a few weeks on our own for 4 days and I can't wait, although I am apprehensive about leaving little Mimi behind.

What an amazing sunrise 6.30am:  This is something that people without children might have missed!

Mimi helping put the rabbit out this morning.

We have had a great day helping Daddy in the garden and playing in the paddling pool.  About 2 weeks ago our neighbour asked Mike if he would mind cutting back some of the brambles to the side of the house.  They were quite out of control and were starting to infringe on his lovely manicured garden.  As always with projects like this Mike has taken to it like a duck out of water.  What started off as cutting a few brambles back seems to have turned into an earth moving exercise.  Unlike Mike in situations like this I shy away from the hard graft, this is not an area I particularly enjoy.  I am not overly keen on all the creepy crawlies.  I did however go out and help today.  I nearly wet myself when a whopping big frog or as Mike likes to call them a "marshary tap tap" leaped up and nearly landed on me.  Don't ask where "marshary tap tap" originates I still after 6 years of marriage haven't worked that one out!!!  There are a few other weird ones such as dog = noggers woolly, aeroplane = cobwob (because they make the cob webs wobble).

Mimi helping Daddy with his garden landscaping at 7.30 this morning!

Then after popping over to see Mikes parents for coffee we came back for more earth works.  Not wanting to shirk my duties it was too hot for me in the garden and I have the start of a cold so when Mimi went for her afternoon sleep I caught 40 winks too.  I feel really lazy but sometimes what the hell!

When Mimi woke up I decided we would get the paddling pool out.  Can you believe it here we are in October and Mimi was sitting in the garden in 27 degrees playing in the paddling pool.